Earth 2.0 discovered but will we ever see it?

Scientists this week have discovered a new planet that seems to display very similar qualities to our own planet. Very exciting news, however it's over 600 light years away and there would take 600 years to get there. Who knows, maybe I'll still be going by then? Seriously though, I envy the people of the future. Well, maybe. It all depends on how we develop as humanity, not as individual countries but as one race. In 600 years will we still be fighting wars over oil and invisible weapons of mass destruction? Probably not, but I'm sure there'll be something to fight about. Will we still even be here? Or will we have had World War 3 and wiped ourselves out? Frightening thought, but maybe not so far fetched as one may like to believe.

This article makes me wonder how many other planets are like ours. Take into consideration the sheer size of the universe and, personally, I think life on other planets is almost guaranteed. We aren't even a speck of the finest dust in the universe and yet some are still ignorant enough to think we are the only, and strongest, form of life.

The picture used also made me wonder what our planet will look like from space in 600 years. Perhaps it will almost completely blue due to global warming, or perhaps a drought is in store and the majority of the water disappears? Perhaps the great continents of today will only be half their size due to a major earthquake/ tsunami? Who knows...

If this dream of exporting humanity to another planet was ever to be achieved would we be arrogant enough to then try and take the land's resources from our new planet and slowly destroy Earth 2.0 as we have here? It wouldn't surprise me...

My Winter

This is a continuation of my post on DD...

It's getting cold now, very cold. No longer will a t-shirt and jeans combo do; the heavy coats and jackets come out along with the scarfs, gloves and ridiculous bobble hats. But, for once, style doesn't rule substance; as long as your teeth aren't chatting away without consent, looks don't matter.
All this is winter.

Delightful nights in front of the television with the heating on accompanied by close family and dark days out and about with friends and cups of hot chocolate from Costa.
All this is winter.

Rudolph noses, frozen digits, chapped lips and aching joints. All these are winter.

Christmas shopping, same shabby Christmas trees being dragged out the loft, same sharp intake of breath as you step outside from the glorious warmth into the sense tingling bitterness. All this is winter.

Stress of what to buy who for Christmas, dwindling funds, what to have for Christmas dinner, Christmas cracker cracking, advent calendar opening, Christmas candle lighting, Christmas stocking filling, waiting for the 25th day of the twelfth month. All these make warm memories in winter...

A Touchy Subject... Still

This is a story I was told by my girlfriend tonight as she got home from work...

Basically, whilst in work, two black (I'm not sure if that's the PC term or not so forgive me) girls asked her whether they sold a certain product in the store. As she essentially only works on 'her' aisle, there are certain products she is less clued up about than her specialist products. Hence when they asked she answered I don't think we sell x product sorry. Anyhow, a few minutes later one of the girls came back to her friend who was standing nearby with the said product and said 'they do sell x, look' to which her friend replied 'what the f*ck?! Why the f* ck did she tell us they didn't?! I'm f*ckin saying something to her!'

Her friend, sensing tension, told her to leave it as it was an honest mistake.

'But what the f*ck? Is it because we're black?' was her answer.

Seriously, in a week were racial comments have been in the news, why are we still at the stage where you can't even answer a question without someone being offended? Obviously racism is wrong and I'd never condone it but come on, some if the cases you hear are ridiculous. If we truly want an end to such problems, people need to be a little more open minded, a little more open and not as defensive. I hate this 'race' thing anyway, if i have a white cat and a black one, I don't class them as black and white, just cats. Maybe that comparison isn't fair... Or maybe it is, why is it such a grey area? All I know is that when a girl comes home from work unsettled and afraid they've offended someone for answering a question in a non threatening genuine manner then that tells me we're still too uptight about certain issues than we need to be. When are we going to try and move on and make racism a topic of yesteryear?

Vampires and Werewolves Roam Amongst Us

They do. At least they think they do. If you, like me, watched the documentary on Channel 4 the other night about real life vampire and werewolf cults in America, you'll know what a shambles the very idea is.

'Teen Vampires' it read as the show kicked off and I sat on the couch with the lights off ready to be amazed and scared shitless by a savage group of descendants from Transylvania. How very very disappointed I was. Turns out the whole documentary was centred on a group of kids in America who dress in black and desperately seek attention. You could see some were future murderers looking for a reason for their impending actions.

'I belong to the wolves and crave blood'. No mate, you're an attention seeker. One silly bitch even started swaying declaring she felt 'drunk' after licking the blood of a friends arm. What an absolute farce. Ready to turn over, I reached for the remote when a stout woman appears on screen identifying herself as one of the kids' mothers. Here's the part she tells her adolescent daughter to stop wearing plastic fangs, get a job and some friends... surely? Nope, she invites the group in and gives one of them a huge kitchen knife and asks him to cut himself. The soft bastard nearly slices him arm off as blood flows from the wound. Presumably they all 'feasted' well that night.

How then can one call these vampires? They don't turn to bats, don't turn to ash in sunlight and one even had a Spiderman t-shirt on. Some claimed to be wolves, not vampires. What makes these different you say? Well, they don't like the vampires in the group for a start. Er, that's it actually. Well I despise all these kids, what does that make me? A goblin? A troll? A bat-wolf hybrid?

Apparently, this craze is sweeping American schools. Some even chain each other together as, like a wolf, they pick a mate. And they wonder why they don't fit in? Anyone did that in my school the chain would be round their neck before they could say Robert Pattinson. These are essentially the attention seeking emo kids from school, with extras. Basically, they moan about being different then claim to be just that. Then go home, cut themselves and claim it's in their nature to do so.

In all seriousness though, it was sad to see some of these formerly driven kids reduced to sitting in a room full of candles, obviously depressed, and making excuses that it's normal as they're vampires. I was looking forward to the new Twighlight movie, but if it's just going to be Robert Pattinson sitting on his arse in his room all day with his Spiderman pyjamas on crying I think I'll pass.

Note: You can watch the said episode here.

Back in Business

Ahh it's good to be back!

As you can see, I've completely revamped the site with a fresh name and look. The principle stays the same; a cauldron of various topics put across in my own way. I'll start posting again very soon, in the meantime I'll be painstakingly editing various elements on the site...

Novel draft 2

I posted an idea of a novel I was working on a few months ago. Since then, I have tweaked the plot etc a lot (to the point it is now almost an entirely different story) but it feels a lot more comfortable now. Friends who are reading this know my love of horror, so it will come as no surprise that this is again a horror tale.

As before, I will post a small extract:

Chapter 1

Kevin sheepishly rummaged through the contents in the dust ridden sack. His hand brushed the old boot he was so weary of. He hated the idea that something may be lurking in the moth eaten souls, ready to make a quick dash at the first sign of danger. He always did hate spiders.   

                The attic was huge compared to his old one. Despite being full of things like an old piano, ancient grandfather clocks and huge wardrobes, it was still big enough for him to fit any bags in he needed to, and therefore meant he didn’t have to empty it-a relief to say the least. He had been curiously making his way around the space for the past hour and a half, inspecting everything he came across. He had discovered some rotting, yet obviously grandeur and eccentric, books written in Latin and even found his uncle’s old gramophone. He loved rooting through this stuff, though hated the feeling of not knowing what little creatures were waiting for him. 

                Kevin swiftly moved on before any spiders could introduce themselves and made his way to the far corner where the cobwebs looked decades old. By now, the sun had rapidly started to set and what light the grime covered sky light allowed in was diminishing fast. He switched his flashlight on and sighed as the feeble trickle of light illuminated his surroundings the best it could. The floorboards here were darker, as though red wine or some other rich substance had been spilt. Kevin laughed to himself as he imagined his grandfather peacefully sipping from his immaculate glass. Probably a mature fine Italian or French wine, only the best. To the right of this, an old leather bound notebook laid, the worn buckle still keeping the browning pages together. Kevin shrunk to his knees and stretched full length to retrieve it. His fingers brushed the dusty journal before he managed to get a suitable grip and pull it towards him. He shone the light on it, the beam showing a red brown face with an indistinguishable scribble running across the middle of it, deeply faded by the years of abandonment. He squinted and tried to make out any recognizable symbols but failed. Defeated, he carefully unhinged the buckle. The book seemed to expand, as though releasing a breath that had been held for many, many years.

Chapter 2

Kevin’s knees were now aching, the combination of solid wood and sharp grit bedding itself into his skin. The gathered the old diary in one hand whilst levering himself with the other. He slumped into an old rocking chair to his right, and this time it was he who was exhaling a much needed breath.

                The air was thin up here and he could feel the cold starting to creep through every crevice it could. He decided to give the diary a quick look before retiring to a much needed bath and then bed. The idea itself made him warm inside but the sharp snap of cold breeze on the back of his neck soon awoke his senses again.

                He turned the flashlight on and turned to the first page of the journal, its spine cracking like many of the old books he had come across earlier today. Here the writing was much more readable and the handwriting was surprisingly similar to his.

                He leaned back into the chair even further, the groans now louder than before. As he gently rocked, he positioned the diary between his hands on his knees and rested the light against his stomach. Comfortable, though slightly colder than he would like, he began to read.

The following is an extract from the diary of James Samuel Walter written in 1942:

***

You'll have to wait to see was written! Anyhow, as yet I have not got a title and I don't want to give too much about the plot away but I can reveal it is (sort of) based on a vampire, or vampire-esque thing. 

When I have a title etc., I will give an update.

Entering Neverland

So I have this sister. She's 16, and she's the usual grumpy, irritating, chip-on-the-shoulder kid most 16 year olds are. Now even more so since she got her BlackBerry. It seems the craze from the states has well and truly hit our shores as kids as young as 9 and 10 wander the streets frantically bashing their mini keyboards with their mini fingers, drooling at the mouth like smack fiends.

Since my sister got hers you're lucky if she acknowledges you these days. Even when we go out as a family her head is buried in the thing, continuously typing like a trained monkey on speed. I swore to myself I would never enter that world.

And then...

Yesterday I got news that I have in fact been bought a Blackberry. Don't know which one etc., but whatever shape it comes in I'm rather scared. Not wanting to say no to the nice gesture I accepted. To be fair, friends have them and they don't seem that bad. But I really don't want to end up like my 16 year old sister, updating my BBM status after every meal, sleep and minutely interesting incident that occurs before me.

I've never been one of the people who live on Facebook, Twitter and their phones. In fact I probably use all three the least out of all my friends. I don't really want that to change. I'm happy living a real life, though that may get tested within the next week when the little black box of addiction arrives at my door.

Maybe it won't be so bad or maybe I'll be on here again very soon begging everyone to add my pin. We shall see. Anyhow, this post is a sort of prelude to a social networking post I plan to write soon so stay tuned!